Throwing the Hammer and Putting the Weight

31. The hammer shall be thrown from within a circle of 9 ft. in diameter. The head of the hammer shall be of iron and spherical, and the handle shall be of wood. The head and handle shall weigh together 16 lbs. The total length of the hammer shall be not more than 4 ft. Each competitor shall be allowed three throws, and the best three competitors of the first trial shall be allowed three more throws each. The farthest throw of the six shall win. All distances shall be measured from the circumference of the circle to the first pitch of the hammer, along a line drawn, from that pitch to the centre of the circle.

32. The weight shall be put from the shoulder with one hand only and without follow, from a 7 ft. square. The weight shall be of iron and spherical, and shall weigh 16 lbs. All puts shall be measured perpendicularly from the first pitch of the weight to the front line of the square, or to that line produced. Each competitor shall be allowed three puts, and the best three competitors of the first trial shall be allowed three more puts each. The farthest put of the six shall win.

33. In Throwing the Hammer and Putting the Weight crossing the scratch shall count as a try.

Tug of War

34. The teams shall consist of equal numbers of competitors. The rope shall be of sufficient length to allow for a 'pull' of twelve feet, and for twelve feet slack at each end, together with four feet for each competitor; it shall not be less than four inches in circumference, and shall be without knots or other holdings for the hands. A centre tape shall be affixed to the centre of the rope, and six feet on each side of the centre tape two side tapes shall be affixed to the rope. A centre line shall be marked on the ground, and six feet on either side of the centre line two side lines parallel thereto. At the start the rope shall be taut, and the centre tape shall be over the centre line, and the competitors shall be outside the side lines.

The start shall be by word of mouth. During no part of the pull shall the foot of any competitor go beyond the centre line. The pull shall be won when one team shall have pulled the side tape of the opposing side over their own side line. No competitor shall wear boots or shoes with any projecting nails, springs, or points of any kind. No competitor shall make any hole in the ground with his feet, or in any other way before the start. No competitor shall wilfully touch the ground with any part of his person but his feet. If the competition is for teams limited in weight, each competitor shall be weighed before the start. The final heat shall be won by two pulls out of three.

Programmes, etc.

35. The A.A.A. recommend that a programme of any proposed meeting (showing the entrants for, and the starts allotted in, each event) shall be forwarded by post to each entrant, to the address given in his entry form, and shall be posted not later than the day before the day appointed for the meeting, or that such a programme as aforesaid shall be advertised the day next before the day appointed for the meeting in one of the public papers circulating in the district of the proposed meeting.

36. It is recommended that all Athletic Clubs and Sports Committees have the following notice conspicuously printed on their entry forms and programmes: -

'The prizes offered at this meeting will be awarded, subject to the statements of previous performances given on the entry forms being strictly accurate.'

The rules are, we think, so plain and straightforward that they require but little comment as to their practical working. One or two remarks, however, naturally suggest themselves. As regards officials, it is a truism to observe that the best laws in the world are no good unless they can find capable administrators; and the first and most important thing to make an athletic gathering successful is to get officials who are up to their work. In London and large athletic centres this is now by no means difficult, as every year there is an increasing number of old athletes who retain sufficient love for the sport to give their aid. At country meetings, however, the difficulty is much greater, not only from there probably being no men with great experience in the neighbourhood, but sometimes also because there are local interests to be conciliated, and some of the subscribers to the meeting have to be asked to officiate in order that no offence may be given. The presence of these willing but incapable officials sometimes leads to most remarkable results. We have seen a country J.P. (and a staunch old sportsman too) officiating as starter with a blunderbuss. His method of starting was as follows.

He told the competitors that when he turned his back upon them they were to get ready, and were to start when they heard the gun. He no doubt thought, with great artfulness, that he must turn his back lest the competitors should see his finger tighten on the trigger. But as soon as this sapient starter's back was turned, off went all the competitors, and usually when they had gone about twenty yards the gun blazed. Another starter whom we saw (the local rector) rolled up his handkerchief in his hand, and prepared to start his men with the following successive formulas: 'Get ready. Are you ready? One, two, three - off,' dropping his handkerchief at the 'off.' Early in the day his men found that he never called them back for starting before the word, so they first started about the word 'One,' then at 'Are you ready?' and finally at 'Get ready.' The starter did not like to confess himself beaten, and, like a conductor who when he finds his orchestra will not follow him decides to follow his orchestra, as soon as his men started he gabbled out the remainder of his sentences and dropped the handkerchief as speedily as possible; by the time he had well settled down to something like ' Ge-ready - aready - wun-to-throff/ the competitors were never more than five yards in front of him.